Tangara vassorii
Blue-and-black Tanager
- Order: Passeriformes
- Family: Thraupidae
- Polytypic 3 Subspecies
Distribution
The Americas
Blue-and-black Tanagers are found in the Andes of South America at elevations over 1500 m (Isler and Isler 1987). This species occurs higher than any other species of Tangara, with an elevational range of from 1500 m to 3500 m; this is the only Tangara species encountered near treeline (Isler and Isler 1987, Ridgely and Tudor 1989, Parker et al. 1996). The center of abundance is in the Upper Montane elevational zone and the species is found in the following zoogeographic regions: Northern Andes and Central Andes (Parker et al. 1996).
Outside the Americas
Endemic to the Americas.
Habitat
Primarily found in elevations ranging from 1500-3500 m, the Blue-and-black Tanager occurs mostly in montane evergreen forest, elfin forest, and secondary forest. Isler and Isler (1987) list their habitats more specifically as humid montane and elfin forest, forest edge, second growth, shrubs and trees in forest clearings, and patches of woody growth at treeline. This species tends to remains mostly in the canopy when in montane forest and is the only Tangara species found in the upper montane forests of the Andes mountain range (Isler and Isler 1987, Parker et al. 1996, Naoki 2003).
Historical changes
No information.
Fossil history
No information.
Recommended Citation
Bernabe, Annabelle, and Kevin J. Burns. 2011. Blue-and-black Tanager (Tangara vassorii), Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; retrieved from Neotropical Birds Online: http://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/portal/species/overview?p_p_spp=%0A%09%09%09%09609516
